Barrie always communicated both deep knowledge and a real love for movies, and his enthusiasm often interested me in trying various films. His opinion on the quality of a DVD was enough to give me confidence to make the purchase.

Barrie's genial personality came through in his writing, as it also did on the couple occasions we exchanged personal emails over the years.

Barrie had been battling brain cancer, and he passed away on Tuesday. He was 64.

A sad, sad loss. I will very much miss Barrie and his columns. My sincere condolences to his wife and family, as well as his colleagues at the Digital Bits.